The Lane Cove rooms are at 2 Austin Street, directly opposite the Lane Cove Library and a few metres from Longueville Road. If you are coming from the village it is a walk of two or three minutes, and the parking behind the library is the easiest option in the middle of the day.
Lane Cove sends a particular mix of problems through the door. There are the desk-and-commute necks and low backs from St Leonards and the city, the shoulders and elbows of a suburb that plays a lot of tennis, and the knees and Achilles tendons that come with living on a hillside — the stairs down to Tambourine Bay and the streets off Burns Bay Road are their own kind of training load. Lane Cove also has a lot of people in their thirties and forties carrying small children, which is its own demand on a back.
A first appointment is mostly questions and movement testing: where the pain is, what makes it worse, what it stops you doing, and how it has behaved over weeks rather than days. From there you should leave knowing what is proposed, roughly how long it is expected to take, and what would mean changing the plan.
Worth bringing: any imaging or specialist letters you already have, a list of medications, and the shoes you actually walk or train in. If the pain is new and severe, follows a significant fall, or comes with numbness, weakness, fever or any change in bladder or bowel control, see a doctor first — that is a medical assessment, not a treatment question.
The nearest alternative if Lane Cove does not suit you is the Freshwater side, about 14 kilometres away across the Spit.
Many people delay therapy because they feel they should cope alone. You can begin with a single concern and keep control of how much you share and how quickly.
People who live with persistent pain often hear, or tell themselves, that they should just push through. The same attitude can spill over into emotional struggles. Worry, irritability or low mood get brushed aside until they feel unbearable, partly because asking for help can seem like admitting you have not coped. Attitudes vary between families, cultures and health systems, but the underlying question is shared: what would make support easier to reach for?
There is no level of distress you have to prove before seeking psychological treatment. Feeling worn down by months of poor sleep, frustrated by a body that no longer does what it used to, or anxious about work are all reasonable reasons to talk to someone.
Dr Christine Shen, Acupuncturist, is also trained in psychotherapy and sees clients for psychological treatment at the Freshwater clinic. A first conversation can begin with one concern rather than your whole history. You might simply say what is bothering you most and ask how therapy could help with it.
Practical details often make the decision easier. Ask about:
How much you disclose, and when, stays in your hands. Christine will not rush you into topics you are not ready to discuss.
As the work continues, your priorities shape its direction. Talk about what you would like to understand, what feels difficult to shift and how you will recognise that things are moving. Check how often the plan will be revisited, and who you can reach if circumstances shift between sessions.
If at any point you feel unsafe, contact your GP, a crisis support line or emergency services immediately. For everything else, a single phone call or email to arrange a first conversation is a perfectly good place to begin.
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